3D Printing

Introduction:

The 2015 Immersive Education Summit is going to this coming fall, in Paris!  We will be discussing a variation of topics, that include new topics, as well a refresher for the old ones too.  Do not miss out on a chance to learn more about the Immersive Education program. To check it out, click on this link! Summit Immersive Education. Here we will begin to cover the fast growing technology of 3D Printing.

Overview:

3D Printing is a developing technology that allows us to create 3D objects, and print them too.  It's a fast growing phenomenon, with various uses which I will discuss more later.  Imagine being able to create something on a computer program, and then watch it be created right before your eyes.  3D printing will change the world for the better.  

At first, 3D printing may sound like something that pops out a stenciled like pop-up piece of paper, but it's so much more than that.  To begin the process of 3D printing, you create a virtual design made in the computer software called Computer Aided Design, or CAD.  You can create anything from a fish to part a modern building.  When finished, the program slices the picture that you created into thousands of horizontal layers, so that it's easier for the printer to read.

There are a couple types of ways to print, and that include Selective Laster Sintering (SLS) which molds soft materials together to produce layers for the printer to print.  There is also the Fused Disposition Modeling (FDM) which the most common for of 3D printing.  FDM uses metal wires to create the 3D object.  The machine moves horizontally and vertically, all controlled by a computer software.  3D printing has no limit to their creations, and these are just a few examples of the printers.

3D printing isn't only for paper, which is what I initially thought it was.  It has many different features, such as creating shoes, duplicates of animals, used in fashion, etc.  Other articles about 3D printing say that guns are being created with this technology, which sometimes can and cannot be detective in airports.  That is unnerving, but 3D printing can also have a positive effect.  

An example of 3D printing that can help the world is creating prosthetics - noses, ears, and more.  The cost is way down when they create the extra parts with 3D printing, as opposed to creating these parts the old fashion way - with a mold.  Parts of bone structures are being created as well with this technology.  Fractured bones can use a dissolving mold to help the bones heal together.

All in all, 3D printing involved a lot of different types of technology, depending on what you are trying to create.  Whether it be stone, rubber, plastic, or metal structures, the limits are endless.  It's not just another piece of technology that costs a lot and was created for fun, but it's creating objects that are valuable to us, and the world. 3D printing plans to move toward fields in which they can have the most impact in.

Prosthetic ears, noses, eyes!

The skull imprint mentioned above.

What a SLS printer looks like.